Dance for me Darling
by Thebestmindone
Summary: AU. Haruno Sakura was once a dancer. Now she has nothing, and in an act of desperation goes to Orochimaru's club for a job. Instead the bar gets blown up and she jumps out of a window. She doesn't land on her feet, but the man she landed on and his friends might be able to help her.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, I know that I haven't finished Blood and Petals, and let's not even touch on The Rising Sun, but this story won't leave me alone. So I present to you Dance for me Darling. Please let me know if you like it, and if you want me to continue it.**

Mother used to always say that I learned to dance before I could walk. I'd cross the room spinning and twirling before I could manage a regular gait. My whole life was mapped out by dance, memories tied to dances. The first dance class I ever took. The first recital that followed with my mom and dad in the front row looking so proud. The first time I danced with a boy, at an awkward middle school dance. Dancing with my older brother at a cousin's wedding, feeling invincible. Winning my first solo dance award, and instead of family waiting to congratulate me a harried looking police officer standing in the wings. The year that followed where dancing just wouldn't come naturally anymore when my whole family was six feet under frozen ground. I couldn't seem to think of something that didn't relate to dancing. And like some wise old guy said once, "Our greatest gifts are often our greatest downfalls."

(Present time)

I stood in front of the night club waiting to feel something. Trepidation at what I was about to do? Nope. Despair at the fact that my life had taken this dark turn? No sir. Regret that the gleaming future I had once dreamed of was now dark and tarnished? Not me. Instead all I felt was a clinical disinterest. The Music Note was all of the things a back alley bar in Konoha was expected to be. Neon glittered in every window, from beer signs, to feminine outlines in provocative positions. Shaking free the mental cobwebs I stepped inside.

The interior was dim, lights focused on dancers in various states of undress circling dull grey poles. The bar was off to the left, shelves of liquor mounted on the wall behind, all backlit by a black light and mirror combination that was more than a bit off putting. The man behind the bar had white shaggy hair, and sharp teeth that were always on display. I walked over to him, not caring that eyes followed my trek. I was used to predatory stares.

"I'm here about the job opening," I had to raise my voice slightly over the rap music blaring in the back ground. The shark toothed grin that was shot my way, followed by the oh so obvious sweep of blue eyes up and down my frame didn't even raise the mild disgust it should of. Numb was a fantastic sensation. Nothing fucking mattered.

"Well, pinky, follow the bar to the stairs, go up to the second floor, the door at the end of the hall is where you _apply_ ", his tone and heavy stress on the word apply broke through the layer of fog my mind seemed to constantly be in. I was here to apply as a dancer, not some common fucking prostitute. Shrugging off the unease his comment left behind, I just nodded. Heading for the staircase the sense of wrong followed me, dogging my footsteps. As I ascended the overpowering thumping of the bass dimmed, but I wished it hadn't. The second floor hallway had rooms off to each side, and the sounds inside did nothing to ease the concern that was slowly rising. The wet sound of flesh slapping on flesh, pleasured cries some low and strained, some high and keening reverberated off the polished black floor and dark wooden walls. My pace quickened slightly without my consent. It was as I stood before the black double doors at the end of the hall that my cute little mental disease popped up.

 **We shouldn't be here.**

 _I don't have a choice. I was kicked out of the troupe. My name means nothing anymore. I don't have a home or a family to run to. So what else is there? Dancing is all I know._

 **Just because we have to be in a bad situation doesn't mean that is has to be this one. There are other clubs in Konoha.**

 _I looked already, remember. This is the only place hiring, and one of the few that didn't absolutely require prior experience._

 **Be on your toes then. And don't say I didn't warn you. I'm looking out for our best interests, I'm in this hell hole of your mind too.**

Hissing aloud at my second personality's audacity, I knocked on the door in front of me firmly. When the door opened I couldn't help but think that maybe for once. My inner was completely right.

"Hello dear. Sui-chan said you'd be up, I hope you've prepared yourself, I'm short on time so this will be abrupt," the man speaking was pale. Pale to the point that faint veins were visible under his skin. His eyes were an unsettling yellow, rimmed in gaudy purple. His black hair shone under the lights in an unhealthy way, greasy and long. His tongue came out to lick his lips and a shudder ran up my spine at the unnaturally pointed tip. "My name is Orochimaru, and I'm the owner of this fine establishment. Do come in so we can begin."

Every instinct in my body screamed at the wrongness of this man, of this place. I took half a step back, and thats when the pleasant demeanor dropped completely. Faster than I would of believed of the wraith, Orochimaru's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the room, the doors shutting with a quiet click that spelled my doom better than a loud bang would have done.

The room was dark, the walls a disturbing and dark shade of purple. A black wooden desk was centered on the left side of the room. The chair behind it suited more for ruling a kingdom than conducting business. A dark wood and blood red leather combination, in another setting it would of been attractive. The right side of the room was more than ominous. A wrought iron four poster bed, bare of blankets and pillows, covered in a single black sheet. The window behind the bed had its curtains drawn and looked onto a blank brick wall on the other side of a narrow alley.

I wrenched my hand out of his grasp. The evil chuckle that reverberated from his throat sent chills up my spine. The numb cloud of indifference I had been living in for the past few months evaporated like fog in the sun. Terror worked its way up into my throat. Along with a bit of cold calculation. My mother may have always encouraged my dancing, but father had been more pragmatic. The various self defence classes, the weapons training, mixed martial arts, it was all guided by my father's hand. Mother had moaned that it added an edge to my dancing, but that was irrelevant.

"I'm leaving. I've suddenly realized this isn't the type of job I'm looking for." With that I spun, intending to fucking sprint down the stairs and out the door when a giant of a man stepped from the shadows next to the desk. His hair was orange and looked like it had been cut with a weed whacker. Three lines of bristly hair ran along the top of his head and next to his ears. He leered at me before pushing me deeper into the room and leaning against the door. Orochimaru grinned at me.

"I don't think we'll be allowing that. Even if you refuse the job here, you've requested an interview, and that's what I'll give you," his pale hand gestured at the bed instead of the desk further clarifying exactly what he expected from this interview. I braced my feet apart and glared at him. Orochimaru stepped forward once again and I could feel the behemoth with the terrible hair cut looming over my shoulder. I readied myself to dodge the incoming hands, mentally mapping out sensitive points on the body for my escape when it all crashed to a halt. Literally crashed. It sounded like a small bomb had gone off downstairs.

The orange haired man swore aloud as screams, shouts, and swears sounded off from the rooms in the hall and the bar below. Orochimaru seemed strangely unfazed.

"Well dear, it seems that you'll have to wait here while we see what's going on down there," the black haired man nodded at the guard behind me. His thick arms came up, presumably to restrain me or knock me out. Neither option happened. Instead I ducked under his arms, kicked backwards into his knee. The satisfying crunch and yelp that followed made me smirk. Not allowing myself to think too much about what I was planning to do, I took off sprinting at the window. Orochimaru's fingertips grazed the back of my shirt, but didn't catch hold. Loud swearing and the shatter of glass became my world as I hit the window at full run. I made sure to jump up instead of out. A two story fall would be bad enough, I didn't need to bounce off a brick wall as well. As I hit the apex of the jump I looked down hoping for a dumpster. Instead, four startled faces looked up at me. Details blurred during my descent, one of the man swore loudly, and moved under me. Instead of slamming into harsh asphalt, muscular arms caught me. I tumbled to the ground on top of a very buff, very angry man. His silver hair was ruffled, and his purple eyes flashed hatefully. The adrenaline rushing through my body made inane details jump out at me. The strange necklace around his neck, and the blank stares of his comrades.

"It's raining women, yeah."

"Shut up brat, we need to leave."

"Get the fuck off me bitch! Are you fucking insane? Jumping out of windows and shit. And fuck you landed on me, what do you weigh?" The silver haired cushion under me had a filthy mouth. Long fingered graceful hands wrapped around my upper arms and gently lifted me to my feet. Dazed I turned and looked into amused blue eyes. The man that helped me up was a bit taller than me, with long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail.

"You okay, yeah? We need to get out of here."

"She's coming with us." The last speaker drew my attention and it was a testament to the shock of the night I didn't even react. His black hair was choppy, but it was the feral green eyes, and thick black stitches at the edges of his mouth were the real scare factors. I just blinked at him.

"Why?" I had to ask. A soft snort drew my attention to the red head standing on my other side. His hair curled artfully onto his forehead, and grey eyes flashed under half closed lids.

"Because we just blew up the first floor of a building, and you jumped out of the second floor. I'd say that you're trying to escape, and not from the explosion." His voice was measured, bored even. I nodded slightly and let the blonde tug me towards a nondescript van idling in the street. Scary guy stitch face jumped in the front seat. Loudmouth attractive one slid the back door open and dove inside. Red head doll face, and pretty boy blonde slid into the back pulling me in with them.

"Pein's going to lose his fucking mind over this shit. Bitches falling from the sky. And we had to bring her asteroid ass back with us." Despite what he said foul mouth sounded amused. The driver of the van pulled away even as he turned to stare at me in the back. I stared back. Finally I snapped.

"Shouldn't you be watching the road sushi?" The blue man in the driver's seat just grinned showing sharp teeth.

"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" I rolled my eyes at the shark driving as he turned back to the road.

"Does that make me Satan? And no. I landed on something soft," the blue man rumbled out a laugh as the purple eyed man went into a swear laden version of events. I gathered that the blonde on my left had set off a relatively minor explosive in the bar. The redhead on my right had beat the hell out of the bartender, which sent my inner persona into a fight of righteous giggles. Stitches up front had cleaned out the till, and safe in the confusion. And silver hair had made sure that the orange haired freak from upstairs didn't interrupt. They all talked and laughed over me, but the drivers eyes flicked up in the mirror to look at me more than once. A lull in the conversation fell.

"Haruno Sakura." They all turned to stare at me and I sighed. "My name. It's Sakura."

The driver grinned at me, "Kisame. Accurate name there pinky." His grin only widened when I made sure to flip him off in the mirror.

"Fuck me were your parents brain dead? My name is Hidan you fucking heathen so remember it."

"Sasori." The redhead nodded at me politely, then immediately returned to staring blankly at the seat in front of him.

"I'm Deidara yeah, and the scary guy up front is Kakuzu. Why'd you jump out of the building? The explosion wasn't that big." Deidara pouted slightly at the last bit, but still looked curious.

"I was desperate. Needed a job. Didn't really like the fucking snakes interview style." An uncomfortable silence fell.

"Pinky, why on earth would you go there for a job?" The big man's voice had softened slightly, but his grip on the wheel tightened.

"I used to be a professional dancer, until some… complications. Now I'm broke, essentially homeless, and I figured it was still sort of dancing." It fell quiet again until Hidan sneezed violently. Everyone in the van stared at him as he exploded into chuckles.

"She jumped out of a fucking window to get away from Orochimaru. I fucking love her."

 **He's fucking insane.**

I nodded along with my inner. As hot as he was, and he was very well built from what I could tell from my crash landing, he was clearly off his fucking rocker.

"Not that I don't appreciate the getaway van, but where are you taking me?" I asked. A finger snaked around and poked me in the forehead. I turned and glared at Sasori who stared back apathetically.

"Our leader will want to meet you. Konan-san would kill us if we didn't offer you shelter after your snake encounter. For those reasons you are returning with us, to a safe location," Sasori finished his _explanation_ with another poke to my cheek.

I sighed.

Ten more minutes passed before the van came to a halt in a back alley of a slightly nicer part of town. Bars, tattoo shops, and weapons stores lined the streets, but the corners were free of hookers and drug dealers. Kisame leapt out and slid open the door, bodily lifting Deidara out when he took too long. I snarled at the large blue hand that came in for me next, causing a dark blue eyebrow to raise alarmingly. Ignoring the smirk Sasori aimed at Kisame I looked at the building in front of us. It was a large warehouse, three stories of brick imposition. The bottom story appeared to be split into two businesses. A central door indicated it lead to the stairwell. The door on the right proclaimed "Red Dawn Lounge", and the one on the left "Angel's Ink".

"Go grab the boss man, I'll take our little shooting star up and get her cleaned up," Sasori nodded at Kisame then grabbed my by my arm and tugged me towards the central door.

"Why should I trust any of you?" I snapped at Sasori, and despite my tone and words, I followed along with him faithfully.

"You need help, we're not nearly as creepy as Orochimaru, we haven't tried to hurt you yet, honestly take your pick," Sasori raised an eyebrow at me.

 **Might as well.**

Inner had a point, that bitch.

Ten minutes later found me sitting on a plush leather couch on the second floor. Sasori had explained the second floor was a common area, and the third floor held apartments for the rest of the members. There was an open kitchen that blended into a huge sitting area, complete with tv, stereo, pool table, and other entertainment systems. A door lead off the sitting area towards a smallish dojo.

The thud of footsteps directed my attention away from Sasori cleaning the cuts on my arms and face from the glass, to the stairs.

Deidara came up first, shooting me a five-star smile. Kisame came next, a case of Dr. Pepper under one arm and three large pizza's in the other hand. Hidan followed swearing loudly at Kakuzu fighting about the… _price of the pizza?_ Next was a man who was half black in the most literal sense, like someone had taken an inked up brush and swiped it over half of his body, but in the wake of Kisame's blueness, it wasn't too startling. A tall man with long dark hair pulled into a ponytail and bottomless black eyes was next, his sleeves on his dark blue button down rolled to his elbows showing off full sleeve tattoos. Bounding on his heels was a man that had the same coloring, but apparently buckets full of energy, he was a whirlwind of dark hair and bright smiles. In the wake of the human tornado was two people. A man with orange hair and strange eyes that didn't seem to catch the light or stay one color, and enough piercings to ensure he kept a distance from fridge magnets. The last person was a blue haired woman, who had restrained herself to one piercing in her lower lip, she carried her own personal aura of zen so powerful I calmed down a bit just looking at her.

"So this is the girl who jumped two stories and landed on Hidan as an alternative to Orochimaru?" The orange haired man had a deep rhythmic voice, authoritative and strangely gentle all at once. Someone who looked like he would cheerfully tear my face off and hang it in the bar downstairs shouldn't have such a nice voice.

All the eyes in the room landed on me and I sighed.

"Yes. I jumped out of a window. Not my finest moment. Who are all of you?" I glared defiantly at the pierced pumpkin.

"Did you hit your fucking head bitch? Or are you just dumb as fuck? My name is-"

"Shut the fuck up Hidan." I snapped at the silver haired asshole.

A soft chuckle drew my attention to ponytail man. "My name is Itachi."

"Zetsu." The half and half man.

"Tobi-kun!" The whirlwind got a smack to the back of the head from Deidara.

"Konan." Blue haired zen queen.

"Pein." Mr. Studs-and-attitude.

"My name is Sakura, and I don't know why I am here," Konan gave me a gentle smile.

"Because dear, you jumped out of a building, landed on one of our people, and you seem to need a place to stay." The truth of her words was irritating.

"You must have been truly desperate to go to Orochimaru for a job," Pein cocked his head to the side like I was some interesting science experiment he couldn't quite figure out.

"I was, I'm out of options, no family in Konoha, no one I can depend on, I'm alone and I have to live," I tossed my hair out of my face earning a quiet snarl from Sasori who was dabbing at a cut on my forehead, "as soon as Sasori finishes mauling me I'll be leaving."

"Noooooooo, Cherry-chan can't leave! Tobi thinks she should stay here. Konan-chan needs a new bartender, and Tobi wants a new friend. Cherry-chan is brave to jump away from the snake man!" Tobi flailed his arms around, before kneeling in front of Pein and turning a startlingly potent pair of puppy dog eyes on the man.

Deidara planted his foot in between Tobi's shoulder blades and shoved him into the floor. "As annoying as this brat is, he has a point… I think."

"We do have a bartending position open," now it was Konan's turn to stare at Pein. He and I sighed deeping in unison.

"I don't need a pity job, or your sympathy. Sasori get off-" I pushed the red head away and stood up "it was nice to meet you all. Thank you for the first aid and the soft landing." I turned and made my way towards the staircase when Pein's voice stopped me cold.

"Ten minutes is all it took for us to come up stairs, but in those ten minutes I know where you are staying, the names of everyone in your old dance group, and the only friends you have left in the world. If I can do this, so can Orochimaru. You embarrassed him, and unfortunately that coincided with our strike against him. Even now he's probably looking for you, digging up all the information on you he can. Right now we are the only hope you have of protecting the people you care about." I turned and glared at him. He was standing alone in the middle of the room, with his gang of misfits fanned out around him.

"Fucker." I launched myself at him, and if he was expecting an uncoordinated attack he got something else. I took him to the ground, and landed a solid shot with my elbow right into his diaphragm. Then three sets of arms grabbed me.

"Easy tiger," Sasori damn near purred in my ear, his arms wrapped around my chest. Itachi had my right arm, and a very enthusiastic Tobi had my left.

Pein rose slowly, surprise in his eyes.

"That wasn't in your fucking report was it asshole? I bet you didn't know I was kicked out of my troupe. Or that my entire family is fucking dead, I haven't seen my two best friends in years and the way I left I doubt they even care. I don't have anything but that also means I have nothing to lose. I hope that creepy asshole comes after me."

To his credit Pein only wheezed slightly when he spoke, "Then what do you have to lose if you work for us, and what do you have to gain if you work _with_ us?"

 **Stop being such a bitch, just because you lost everyone doesn't mean you can't have new friends. These people are crazy, maybe as crazy as us, and for some unknown reason they're trying for you. Give them a damn chance.**

"And what exactly would that entail?" Pein grinned full on, and the arms holding me back disappeared. They had won for the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Akatsuki. A bunch of misfits, and we fit in just fine.**

 _Shut your mouth Inner._

Attitude aside Inner had a point. After yesterday's confrontation I had reluctantly agreed to stay the night with the Akatsuki, as Pein had said they called themselves.

Unfortunately that had sparked a giant debate on who I'd stay with. My idea of sleeping on the couch was thrown out nearly before I could get it out of my mouth. Tobi had gone on a ten minute rampage of swirling limbs and _screeching._ Sasori had immediately stated that his room was his workstation and had no room for guests. And it went on. Finally it was Konan that came to my rescue, with something along the lines of "we're both girls and I'm not as annoying as any of you".

The next morning found me stumbling into the kitchen area following the smell of coffee.

"Early riser?" Sasori was standing next to the coffee pot staring at it with the same adoration I'm sure was on my face.

"Habitually, not by choice. We had early morning practices, but recently the places I've been forced to stay at have either early check out times, or hourly rates and I couldn't afford to pay to sleep in," I pretended not to notice the way Sasori's brown eyes narrowed at the mention of the way I had been living. He pulled a mug from the cupboard above his head and handed it to me.

"Drink some coffee, you look like a sleepy eyed psychopath," he stated bluntly.

 **Pot, meet kettle.**

In a strange show of chivalry Sasori poured the first cup into my mug, even as he was eyeing it with naked lust. Whatever. Caffeine. Priorities.

In between one blink and the next Itachi fucking materialized into the kitchen. It was a testament to Sasori's unflappable nature that he didn't even blink as he poured his own coffee. It was a testament to how tight my nerves were still wound that I nearly clubbed him with my mug.

"Sasori. Sakura." A terse greeting from the dark lord.

"Itachi." Sasori's reply was remarkably bland.

"Tachi." I blew on my coffee and smirked inwardly at the way the Uchiha paused ever so slightly reaching for a mug.

"I believe you missed a letter," Itachi glanced at me over his shoulder, somehow managing to pour coffee into a black mug seamlessly.

 **Graceful bastard isn't he.**

I blinked at Itachi owlishly and sipped at my coffee. A very strange three way stare off commenced. A heavily lidded Sasori looking at Itachi and I like a science experiment. Itachi staring at absolutely nothing and giving off an aura of seeing everything at once. Me staring at the two of them wondering for the hundredth time what the hell I had landed in.

The coffee woke me up enough to actually notice the two men. Sasori was wearing black sweat pants, and a white wife beater that showed evidence of grease stains. Itachi was wearing grey basketball shorts, and a blue t-shirt that had the sleeves cut off and slits down from the armpit down to the very bottom hem. Apparently Uchiha had tattoos not only all over his arms, but there was hints of ink peeking around on his ribcage and back.

"Well aren't we all cheerful this morning," Kisame rolled into the kitchen like a tsunami, wearing blue on blue shorts and shirt like Itachi's. The three us of turned as one and offered him mirroring blank faces. Kisame paled slightly. We sipped our coffee in unison.

"The three creepiteers. Wonderful." Kisame pulled a blender down from the cupboards, then lead an assault on the fridge. I watched in slightly nauseated awe at the ingredients he was pulling together. Raw eggs, some leafy abomination, yogurt, banana's, what looked suspiciously like raw fish, and an entire carton of blueberries. The blue giant proceeded to dump it all in the blender. Aware of what was about to following would be an assault on every sense I possessed I made a break for the living room.

The grating whirr of the blender started up and I slitted my eyes in annoyance. Apparently I wasn't the only one.

"What the fuck Kisame you giant fish brained fuck head? Every fucking morning you make that Jashin cursed ass-smoothie. Can't you pretend to be a normal fucking person for one goddamn morning?"

 **Hidan's awake.**

"I'm going to use that blender to build the next bomb, yeah." Deidara staggered into the living room with a monster already in hand. He flopped onto the couch next to me, sprawling pale limbs and messy blonde hair _everywhere_.

Turning to Sasori hoping for some fucking reason in this madhouse, "Where is Konan she was gone when I woke up?"

"Ooooh, did you get a little slice of blueberry pie?" I planted my still hot mug of coffee in Deidara's hand and threw a throw pillow into Hidan's face as he rounded the corner into the living room.

Sasori stared at all of us blankly, "She went down to the shop probably to draw, she really only sleeps an hour or two at a time during the day."

"Pein is probably down at the bar doing some prep with Zetsu, and Tobi will be cleaning. Kakuzu is working on the books for both this morning," Itachi reappeared from the kitchen a plate with two cinnamon raisin bagels smeared with cream cheese in hand. He settled into the couch on my other side, dropped a paper towel on my leg and plunked on of the bagels on it. I stared at him blankly, trying to remember the last time I actually ate something that wasn't the cup ramen I had two nights ago.

"Eat it. We're all going out for breakfast in about an hour, then to pick up your stuff. Pein wants you to move in tonight," I paused mid bite.

"Wait what. Already? Why?"

Itachi turned bottomless dark eyes on me, "Pein told you last night that it would be in your best interest to ally yourself with us. Delaying that would not be wise. Besides, what other choices do you have?"

I glared back at him. I resented being cornered into accepting this charity from people I literally just met.

"It's not charity," Sasori was apparently a mind reader, "you'll be able to take up a job in either the bar, or the shop depending on your skills. And of course you are a potential candidate for the Akatsuki."

"I hadn't planned on joining a gang," I mumbled resentfully around the bagel.

"Gang is an ugly word Saks," I took my coffee back from Deidara after flipping him off.

Half an hour later found me wearing a pair of Deidara's sweats, and a Sasori shirt. Long hair pulled up into a messy bun, my reflection in the window of the diner we stopped at made me flinch. Pale skin was drawn tight over the bones in my face, dark circles hung under my eyes, I looked like I was starving. Which wasn't far off but still.

The waitress simpered at the boys as she lead us to a huge corner booth. She obviously was trying to figure out what a scruffy creature like me was doing with a group of such attractive men. They were all attractive in their own way. Itachi was all tall dark and handsome, the tattoos adding a dangerous edge. Deidara was like a small gold god, blue eyes flashing sapphire bright. Sasori was tightly wound tension hidden under a bored facade. Kisame was huge, and ripped, an angular face and cocky attitude. Hidan's pale blonde hair and violet eyes, his arrogance, and unmistakable air of recklessness.

I was a small pink haired girl, whose dreams had been crushed, and was forced to survive off the generosity of a group of likely criminals who seemed determined to pull me in. I didn't really fit.

To my surprise I found myself in the corner, flanked on one side by Deidara and Sasori, Itachi on the other side, Kisame and Hidan pulling up chairs to the remaining side of the table.

The waitresses jealous stare was missed by no one at the table. She began taking down orders.

Predicatably Kisame ordered enough food to feed a small army. Hidan ordered something that sounded like it was all meat. Sasori wanted a spanish omlete. Deidara immediately demanded stuffed french toast. Itachi was the strangely traditional one asking for pancakes and bacon.

"Biscuits and gravy please", when the waitress finally looked in my direction.

"A side of hashbrowns and bacon as well for her." Itachi added on smoothly, raising a dark brow at me.

I sighed.

"Get fucking used to it." Hidan's eyes were dead serious. "You're one of us now, and we look out for each other. None of us had anyone or anything before Akatsuki. You might of fucking jumped out of a window on me, but you belong. We're all fucked up and broken and that's why we work. Stop fucking trying to fight it. You're stuck with us damnit." That was the longest I had ever heard Hidan speak, and the least amount of swearing. The rest of the table looked at me and nodded slightly before resuming whatever they were doing.

 **He's right. We can't be alone anymore. Maybe fate decided to remove it's dick from our ass.**

 _Inner what the fuck._

 **I'm just saying, there are worse things in the world than this. Like Orochimaru. Or being homeless, jobless, and alone.**

Inner was right again. It was becoming annoying. I thought back to what Itachi had said earlier. I didn't have any other choices, but after what Hidan said that didn't feel like such a bad thing.

Our food arrived shortly after that, and there was the usual shuffling of drinks and silverware to make room for plates. Staring at the huge breakfast in front of me, a wave of insecurity rose up. I could almost hear the dance instructor bellowing at me to watch what I ate, there's no room for a fat ass in the dance world.

Chancing a peek at the table showed no one looking at me, judging me. Sasori and Deidara were bickering around their food about something art related. Kisame had stolen a sausage link from Hidan's plate and the two were dueling with their forks. Itachi was displaying impeccable manners, somehow in this madness. His dark eyes caught me looking, and it seemed he could read the internal struggle because he sighed softly.

I glanced back down at my food, embarrassed to have been caught staring, and worried that Itachi's dark eyes might have read more in that gaze than I was ready for.

I definately wasn't ready for the forkload of pancake that appeared in front of my nose. I jumped sightly.

"Wha-mphh." Itachi shoved the pancake in my mouth quickly.

"Eat. Or I'll feed you like a child." From any one else that sentence would of been condescending, but from Itachi it was just a fact.

A long forgotten memory floated up.

 _Sakura-chan you better eat, or teme will hold you down and I'll feed you ramen by force!_

 _Hn. Take care of yourself, it's annoying when you don't._

I dug into my breakfast and wondered briefly at the irony of having this conversation with two Uchiha's in my lifetime. I pretended to not notice the way a collective sigh was released when I started on my food.

Not even twenty-four hours around them, but the Akatsuki were already reading into my flaws. Busting my walls down. And in the process, maybe they were helping.

Deidara broke into the storage unit the dance instructor had all of my shit stored in when she kicked me out. In an hour everything I owned was loaded up into a familiar van, and heading for a three story building that was feeling a bit like home.

 **Haven't had one of those in a while. Could be nice.**

Pein met us in the alley.

"You'll be moving into Konan's old room Sakura."

I blinked, "But then where-"

"With me," was Pein's blunt answer.

Well. I hadn't realized that they were…

"We're not together," I flinched at Konan's sudden appearance. She gave me an apologetic nod. "But we are the only ones that could feasibly share a room and avoid blood shed."

"I really don't want to be this much of an inconvenience. You're being too kind. All of you. You don't even know me, but you're giving me a place to live and a job." I sighed.

"You're the type of girl that will do whatever it takes to survive, which is commendable. You're also strong, but too self-reliant. You've been broken but not ruined. You can still smile after what you've been through. You see Sakura, we don't need to know the specifics, to know what kind of person you are," Pein said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I clamped down on the sudden impulse to hug the man.

 **Jesus fucking christ I forgot what kindness was supposed to feel like.**

Pein sighed then held his arms out, "Just once."

For the first time in a long time a full on grin stole over my face. Eyes bright I hugged him tightly. He smelled like lemon soap, and cinnamon. Pein wrapped his arms around me in a brief but strong hug.

"Settle in today. Tonight we'll discuss your job." Pein stepped back and glared at Konan who was making an aww face at him.

I nodded and turned to the van to grab a box when some sense told me to duck. Tobi went hurtling through the air above my head. Apparently Tobi-dodging would become a life skill around here.

"Tobi will help cherry-chan!" He picked himself off the asphalt in a heartbeat and gathered up an armload of boxes that I knew were packed full of books but he carried them easily up the stairs in a flash.

"Yeah pinky get a move on, or are you expecting us guys to do all the work?" Kisame bared sharp teeth at me in a smile.

I picked up a box of clothes and smiled coldly at him, "Kisa, sweetie, you make a sexist remark like that again, and I'll shove you into your blender and make tuna casserole for dinner."

With that I went up the stairs listening to Deidara's hysterical laughter.

 **A/N: I don't know where this chapter came from or what the hell is happening in it. It wrote itself. I'm now craving breakfast food. I hope you feel my pain. Let me know what you thought! I'll try to get the next chapter to have some form of point, promise. To the reviewer that asked about Sakura's old best friends, I believe that was cleared up here. I don't know if this will be a harem yet or not. I'm really just running blind at the moment. Rambling over, thanks for reading! Review if you wanna.**


	3. Chapter 3

It didn't take long to get all of my shit carried up to my room. Konan had painted three of the walls silver, and the last a pale blue. My full size bed went in the corner of a silver and the blue wall. Dresser was at the foot of the bed, and bookshelf next to the dresser. A small nightstand had an ancient t.v. on it next to the bed a few feet down the wall. That was it aside from the multitude of boxes, bags, and luggage on the floor.

The Akatsuki had dispersed after helping me carry bags up to the third floor. I sighed and opened the nearest box, and began cramming books in the bookshelf.

"Do you have any plan to organize those?" I turned over my shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Sasori.

"Just grouping the series together, then all the single books together at the end," I gestured with the hardback copy of Inheritance in my hand.

"Then let me help." Sasori didn't offer to help so much as demand to.

Resigned to my fate of apparently living with a group of people who didn't seem to believe in butting out I started shoving clothes into drawers, I could practically feel Sasori's judgemental gaze.

"I won't ever put them back in after I wash them, they'll just end up in different laundry baskets around the room," I snapped a t-shirt in his face.

"Deidara would agree with that system." Sasori's dry tone made it clear that Deidara's approval was not something to be proud of.

Mild snarkiness aside with Sasori's help all of my books and clothes were put away quickly. I kicked a box towards him.

"DVD collection, last shelf in the bookcase, you'll have to stack them vertically or they'll never fit." The redhead grunted softly but began stacking movies anyway. The last box was relatively small, but painful to look at. I grabbed the whole thing and shoved it under my bed violently. Sasori raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything when I sat next to him and started grabbing DVD's.

A few minutes later Deidara poked his head through the door and after commenting on the blandness of my walls told us Pein was holding a meeting in the living room.

Pein and Konan were sitting together on a loveseat. Itachi, Kisame, and Kakuzu took up one couch. Tobi was laying on the back of said couch like some giant bizarre cat. Hidan and Deidara were sitting on opposite ends of the larger couch. Zetsu was leaning against the wall behind Pein and Konan. Sasori gently nudged me towards Hidan and Deidara's couch. Sasori sat next to Deidara, and I took the seat next to loudmouth.

"Sakura, all settled in?" Pein glanced at me.

"Yeah, unpacked and everything. With help." Sasori sighed.

"Have you thought about the job offer more?" I nodded.

"I have no experience at the other end of a tattoo needle, and my artistic talents are questionable. If you're determined to hire me, I'd prefer working in the bar." Pein nodded while Konan tipped her head at me curiously.

"You have tattoo's?" Her gold eyes gleamed with curiosity. I nodded then stood, pulling the shirt Sasori had lent me up, exposing my ribs and back.

There was a yin and yang symbol made of two dragons, one fire and ice, between my shoulder blades. A fox and a hawk raced each other across my ribs on the left. A ballet slipper and a boxing glove with their strings knotted together on the right ribs.

"I had to get tattoo's I could cover for dance, but I wanted them all to mean something." Konan stood and stepped forward her hand extended.

"May I?" I nodded my consent and her cool fingertips brushed over the wings of the hawk. "These are all very well done, and by the same artist. Whoever it was is very skilled, their technique only improved with time. The dragons were your first, and then the fox and hawk are the latest?"

"Yes. My friend Sai did them all. I had the dragons done almost two years ago. The fox and hawk about six weeks ago. Two weeks before I left my dance troupe."

"Well bitch, you might be a bit badass after all." I dropped my shirt and flicked Hidan in the nose. I sat back down, and met the dark gaze of Itachi. His eyes flickered to the now covered fox and hawk tattoo then back to my face.

"Naruto and Sasuke?" Itachi's voice was toneless, but emotions were dancing in his eyes.

"You know Naruto?" I figured that even in a clan as large as the Uchiha that Itachi and Sasuke would know each other, but Naruto as well?

"He is my little brothers best friend." I blinked at Itachi. The Uchiha clan all shared an uncanny resemblance but now that I looked for it, I could see the shared characteristics. The brothers both had their mother's eyes, and their fathers nose.

"Well fuck."

Itachi nodded. The rest of Akatsuki were staring at the two of us like they were waiting for a bomb to go off.

"Finish that later." Pein's command was a relief. Sasuke hadn't talked about his older brother much, except when he was drunk. Which wasn't often. But I still knew that Sasuke used to worship Itachi, until he had moved to Konoha with family. Sasuke and his parents still lived in nearby Suna, but it seemed that Itachi and their father had a falling out. Curiosity was burning in me to get to know the man that had such an influence over Sasuke.

"You can come down to the bar with me tomorrow Sakura, and we'll get you started. Now moving on. So far we haven't heard anything back from our attack at the Music Note. Any updates?" There was a collective shaking of heads around the room.

"In that case it's business as normal, but I'd like everyone to go in pairs. Don't go out alone, the longer that the sound waits to retaliate the worse it will be." Everyone else nodded, I just stared at Pein.

"If you want me to join Akatsuki, don't you think I should know what's going on?" Irritation at being interrupted yet again morphed Pein's features. Tension rose in the room but I kept eye contact. I wasn't scared of Pein. I didn't doubt that he was capable of causing pain, or even killing someone. But not his people. Not with the way they all followed him so loyally.

Konan placed her hand on Pein's knee gently. "I will explain everything after the meeting Sakura."

Pein relaxed slightly. Everyone else relaxed greatly.

"If there's nothing else, we're done here. Sakura, meet me downstairs at ten." Pein stood up and vanished upstairs.

"Come on Sakura," Konan motioned towards the kitchen.

Konan pulled two bottles of peach tea from the fridge and handed me one before taking a seat at the island.

"Originally Akatsuki wasn't a gang. It was just me, Pein, and our friend Nagato. We were all orphans, and we banded together for protection. Back then we lived in Ame, in a rough part of town. It wasn't until Nagato was attacked and killed by a gang in the area for trespassing that Akatsuki was born. Pein wanted to make sure he never lost anyone ever again. The rest of the members joined over time, usually because they had no one in the world, or for reasons like Pein's. Itachi is one of those. We moved to Konoha to try to build a life for ourselves and our members. But unfortunately, the gang rivalry followed us here. Orochimaru was the one responsible for Nagato's death, which is why the boys attacked the bar the night you were there. Of course your desire to escape Orochimaru is part of why Pein is so determined for you to join us. We can help protect you. And you fit in very well here." Konan's voice broke every time she said Nagato's name, but other than that she was steady. I reached forward and took one of her hands in mine.

"I'm sorry that you lost Nagato. It's difficult to lose someone so close to you."

Konan smiled softly and squeezed my hand back.

"He may come across as callous, but Nagato's death really hit Pein hard. And this continuing feud with the Sound is a great source of stress to him. But he does want you to join us. It's so rare to find someone that has had a troubled past such as yours, that still retains that internal light."

"After my parent's were killed I was put into the foster system. That's where I met Naruto. His godfather took me in, he had been a friend of my parents before they had me. Naruto and Sasuke were the only people who didn't pity me for my loss, but empathized. Naruto was orphaned nearly at birth, and Sasuke's older brother had left him behind." Konan's gold eyes were full of understanding.

"Being a dancer was always my dream, and at the end of high school I was offered a position in a prestigious dance troupe. The leader however didn't believe in outside relationships. She was a cruel woman. The dancers tolerated it because she did have an outstanding reputation, and many awards. But she was too harsh. She would force dancers she deemed overweight to fast for days, or to run laps until the threw up whatever they had eaten. Everyone was on a strict diet, and a harsh exercise schedule. Not only that but she was abusive in her critiques. I was kicked out after I confronted her when she bullied a girl in the troupe into attempting to kill herself. Of course by then, Naruto and Sasuke hadn't heard from me in over a year. I didn't have any friends outside of the troupe, and most of our winnings from competitions went to paying the leaders fees. That's how I ended up in Konoha. Our last competition was here before it happened." I looked away from Konan, her expression had too much compassion in it to handle.

I wasn't expecting a warm hand to land on my shoulder. I flinched and looked over my shoulder. Pein was there, his strange eyes warm. The rest of Akatsuki was behind him.

 **They aren't running away from you yet, maybe you should tell them the rest.**

 _Not yet…_

"Well bitch, it sounds like you may be just as fucked up as the rest of us."

Leave it to Hidan to shatter the somber mood. I was grateful.

The rest of the day passed much more peacefully. With some of my demons exposed, and a few of the Akatsuki's out in the open, I almost wanted to trust them. Sasori had demanded a raid on my movie collection. Kisame had disappeared into the dojo, the sound of the weights clattering on their bars was comforting. Itachi had a book in hand, and reading glasses. The sight was entertaining. Big bad gang member tattooed up Itachi, with a pair of rectangular glasses perched on his aristocratic nose. Kakuzu had his laptop at the kitchen table and was talking to Pein and Konan about various budget details. Zetsu was also in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Hidan, Sasori, Deidara, and I were all spread out on the couches.

Sasori had grabbed the A-team. At my raised eyebrow he explained.

"Bloodshed for Hidan, explosions for Deidara, and you and I are intelligent enough to enjoy the rest."

Well. Okay.

Sasori and Deidara both had sketchbooks in their laps. They worked with Konan in the tattoo shop. It seemed that nearly all of Akatsuki was tattooed in some way. The two artists sketched and fought back and forth. Which left Hidan and I as the only ones really paying attention to the movie.

Hidan was entertaining to watch movies with. His sarcastic comments went perfectly with the dialogue.

Dinner with the Akatsuki was… loud.

Zetsu was a fantastic cook. There was enough food to feed an army. Or at least Kisame.

It wasn't until I found myself dragged into a wild debate with Hidan over if Liam Neeson would beat Chuck Norris in a fight that I caught the gleam of satisfaction in Itachi's small smile. It was the first meal in a long time I had eaten where I wasn't worried about how many calories I was eating, or who was watching.

It was also the first time I called someone a fucker with a mouthful of spaghetti.

 **Progress. I think. At least its not so fucking gloomy in here.**

The next morning I was up at seven. Sasori greeted me with a mug and a brand new bottle of hazelnut creamer. I blinked at him.

"It's what you asked for at breakfast. Itachi remembers things."

The fact it was Itachi was a bit surprising. Out of the Akatsuki members that seemed likely to not only remember my favorite creamer but go out and buy it for me, Itachi wouldn't have made my list.

Sasori raised an eyebrow at my appearance. A pair of spandex shorts and a baggy batman t-shirt.

"You should consider a leg tattoo."

 **Haven't had enough coffee for this.**

Just like yesterday Itachi was the next one to appear. This time shirtless, and wearing black sweats. I peeked at Sasori. Red sweats, black wifebeater.

I sipped my coffee, "How long until Kisame offends the laws of nature with that smoothie of his?"

Itachi snorted softly, "Half an hour." My lips curled and I blew steam off my coffee.

"Perfect."

(Quick pov change because I can.)

Kisame stumbled out of bed. The smell of coffee drifted up the stairs into his room. The small part of his brain that was awake was speculating about the odds of running into the creepiteers again. The rest of him was fixated on his morning smoothie.

Kisame was a big believer in not starting his day with caffeine. Instead, he loaded up his trusty blender. Calories was the first thing to have in the morning, not coffee.

Stumbling down the stairs, he rounded the corner into the kitchen. Which was disturbingly empty. The coffeepot was half empty. Kisame shrugged and reached for his blender when his spine tingled.

He glanced over his shoulder and nearly dropped the blender on his head. Sitting at the table like they had been there since the beginning of time was Itachi, Sasori, and Sakura. Itachi even had his feet propped up on an empty chair. The part of his brain that was awake screamed danger at Kisame.

The three blinked in unison. Kisame gulped. The sipped their coffee _in unison._ Then they spoke.

"Surely you aren't going to disrupt the peace with your blender already."

"It's my first day of work."

"I will poison you slowly."

Without looking at each other or missing a beat they spoke around the table. Then they raised their mugs again.

Kisame was aware of a bead of sweat on the side of his face. Because three pairs of eyes flickered to it, then returned to the dead pan stare.

"I.. Uh. No. No I'm not going to have my smoothie today. Maybe I'll have coffee-" the temperature in the room dropped several degrees "-or not. Nope. No coffee. I'll just. I'm going to go."

Kisame fled the kitchen as fast as his pride would allow, which at the moment was _fast._

He passed Deidara on the stairs, "Don't go into the kitchen if you value your life."

Ignoring the blonde's look of confusion Kisame darted back into his room.

His smoothie could wait an hour or two.

 **A/N: Hello everybody! So we got a little dark there for a minute. Which is what lead to that, whatever that was, at the end. So we get a peek into Sakura's past. In this world, Nagato is the one that died. Because Pein looks like Yahiko. I think. The Pein/Yahiko/Nagato thing is so confusing when you're trying to pull it from memory. I swear Kishimoto was drunk when he came up with that plot point. But whatever. If I'm wrong, you can tell me, but I'm not going to fix it. I've already committed to this idea. Well, let me know what you thought. This story is flowing so easily it's almost stupid. Thank you to everyone that's reviewed so far, and all of you following and favoriting. You're the best.**


	4. Chapter 4

After our successful battle against the smoothie abomination, I headed back up to my room to pull myself together for my first day of work. I found a box resting on my purple sheets that hadn't been there before. A note was taped to the top.

 _ **Uniform for bar. Don't be late.**_

Pein. It was almost a swear in my mind. Ignoring the box for the moment I staggered into the bathroom. The bathroom was in between my room and the one next door. The whole floor was set up this way, one bathroom to two bedrooms. Except Pein's room which was a master suite of some sort. The general lack of clutter didn't give any clues to who I shared the bathroom with.

I soon found out. When I was naked in the shower. When Itachi wandered in and started brushing his teeth.

"Ita-kun." Itachi's entire body went tense like I had zapped him in the ass with a taser instead of another nickname.

"Yes?"

"I'm showering."

"I'm aware of that," Itachi spit into the sink and looked into the mirror right at me _through the clear shower curtain_ "but as I am a non-virginal straight man, I was not afraid of seeing something unknown."

This resulted in a bar of soap finding a new home in the back of a very cranky Uchiha's silky black haired head.

 **Why'd you have to assault him? A hot guy watching us shower is a good thing.**

 _Shut your fucking mouth Inner._

Uchiha debacle aside I was soon back in my room staring at the offensive box. I ripped it open and dumped the contents on the bed.

Three long sleeve black button downs tumbled out. The buttons were actually tiny red clouds. The shirts themselves were satin. Expensive, and custom. On top of the shirts was… an order form? The sizes had been left blank. A laundry list of tank tops, t-shirts, hoodies, sweats, and jackets. Apparently they were really banking on my joining Akatsuki, if they were pre ordering gang colors for me.

I quickly pulled on underwear. Freaking uniforms already. A pair of dark denim skinny jeans, a lacy red camisole, and one of the button downs next. I rolled the sleeves up like I had seen Itachi's, and left enough buttons undone on the top to show a hint of red. Long pink hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and black eye liner swept across my lids.

 **That'll do.**

Pulling a comfortable pair of black boots on, I headed down to the bar.

The quick detour to punch Hidan in the ribs for telling me my boots would look great next to his ears was completely justified.

I slipped inside the back door of the bar and blinked owlishly at Zetsu. Who was wearing an apron and wielding a knife so large I immediately named it overcompensation.

"Pein's up front."

 **Talkative as always.**

Nodding a thanks at Zetsu and agreement with Inner I headed through the clean and brightly lit kitchen and stepped into the main area. The doors from the kitchen opened right behind the bar. The interior was done in dark browns and soft reds, creating a warm atmosphere. Black accents appeared here and there. Pein was leaning on the bar with a pen in one hand and the other pushed into his hair. I stepped out of the bar area and took up a seat on the stool directly across from him. Multicolored eyes blinked at me sleepily.

"What's up boss?" Pein looked mortally offended by the amount of cheer I managed to convey.

"Filling out orders for the upcoming week." He pushed a completed order form towards me.

"We try to keep our orders as local as possible, keeps the Akatsuki in the neighborhoods good graces. But that also over complicates things." Pein sighed and shuffled the papers around again.

"Anyway, Itachi will be down in a few minutes to walk you through the basics, we open at noon."

Itachi was apparently not ready to forgive the soap incident, because his version of walking me through the basics was a five minute tour of the front, with a vague grunt thrown in here and there.

After a very ugly minute of Pein shooting Itachi a side eyed glare, and Itachi doing a magnificent impression of not existing, Itachi took me on a more thorough walk through.

"Here's the menus, we have a list of custom drinks on the back with the appetizers so those are the drinks you should memorize quickly." Itachi's hand kept drifting up to the back of his head to rub a spot of hair I'm sure was vaguely soapy still.

The menu's themselves were a simple red on black theme, lamitated front and back so each customer could be provided with a menu and a dry erase marker. I could immediately see the benefit. The customer could completely customize their order, and it eliminated the bartender as the middle man to cut down on mistakes.

With an eerie floating grace Itachi wandered behind the bar and stared at me blankly.

 **He's still mad.**

I followed Itachi behind where we went through a vaguely threatening demonstration of how to make the most popular drink. Showing me the locations of various well alcohols, sliced fruit, and mixers. The "Filthy Luck" was made in a tall pint glass. A splash of grenadine was poured in the bottom before ice filled the glass. Next Itachi grabbed a metal shaker cup, threw a scoop of ice in and proceed to pour vodka and Bailey's in equal measure. A smaller glass to the top of the metal shaker, and with a baleful glare in my direction Itachi shook the mixture. He pour the mixture carefully over the ice adding a white layer to the drink. Another metal shaker, more ice, this time followed with cinnamon whiskey and Kahlua. Again with the shake and pour. The final touch was a chocolate covered strawberry carefully sliced and stuck the to rim and two long bar straws. Altogether the red, white and black layers played off of each other nicely.

"It tastes like hell but there's enough alcohol in there to please anyone, and it matches the decor," Itachi offered the drink to me with a slight crinkle at the bridge of his nose. One sip was enough to put a matching wrinkle in my nose.

"That's disgusting," I handed the drink back to Itachi who unceremoniously dumped it down the sink.

From there Itachi slowly warmed back up, showing me the ins and outs of bartending. When the first customer of the day slouched in, Itachi gestured vaguely then followed me over like a persistent ghost.

The customer looked,,,, suspicious.

 **Creepy grandpa alert.**

Wild fluffy white hair cascaded down the man's back secured in the most half assed ponytail I'd ever seen in my life. His dark eyes sparkled with a lecherous light and the grin spreading across his face threatened to devour his entire face. Aside from the perverted aura that surrounded the man the most remarkable part of his feature were twin tattoo's running down his cheeks like a trail of bloody tears.

I forced as much professional kindness into my face as possible, "Hi there what can I get you?"

A frankly alarming amount of eye-brow wiggling commenced, "Something cherry flavored would be a lovely start to the day you gorgeous girl."

 **Cyanide and cherry syrup it is.**

Pretending my alter ego wasn't cheerfully planning his murder I offered the man the fakest smile I could muster. I was saved having to dignify him with a response when Pein slipped out of the darkness and slapped the older man on the back of the head.

"Leave her be you pervert," Pein shot me a side-eyed look full of long time suffering and sympathy, "He will have a whiskey coke and tell Zetsu that Jiraiya is here, he'll know what to do."

Itachi slunk off looking mildly put out that I was saved to make the drink.

I took my escape and slipped back into the kitchen just in time to see Zetsu carving small bits of tomato off.

With a spoon.

He was...dicing tomatoes….with a spoon?

I tried to ignore the fact that said spoon had a wildly sharp edge, and was cutting through the poor fruit easier than most knives I had met.

"Jiraiya is here?" What was meant to be a statement turned into a question as the lighter half of Zetsu's face frowned. The darker side however quirked into a smirk.

 **Best street preformer ever. If he could not murder everyone.**

"Thank you. _But tell him to release another book or we'll poison him."_

The second half of Zetsu's sentence seemed to come from a totally different voice than I had previously heard. I blinked.

Tomato juice dripped.

"Ah. I- right."

Self preservation won out and between an old pervert and a potential schizophrenic cook I chose the lecherous old toad.

Back in the bar Pein and the Jiraiya were sitting side by side at the bar. Itachi was haunting the far side of the bar with a rag in hand.

Multicolored eyes caught mine and a slight jerk of the head summoned me over.

"Sakura this is Jiraiya, he actually owns this building, but in return for free drinks and food, and the occasional job we pay very little in rent." Pein smacked Jiraiya's hand out of the air.

"Also never shake his hand."

An air of deep indignation rippled around Jiraiya, "Zero respect for a person such as myself. I am a world renowned author."

"Have they added porn to the best seller list?" Itachi chimed in while lazily polishing a glass.

"It's nice to meet you," I smiled slightly and lied through my teeth.

"He grows on you. _Like a fungus."_

The two toned sentence signaled Zetsu's arrival to the bar as he set down a plate of breakfast food that I had no memory of being on the menu. Jiraiya immediately abandoned his offended airs and tucked neatly into his breakfast sandwhich.

Zetsu noticed my slight confusion and shrugged.

"Long time customers and staff get a little leeway with food orders, as long as we have the ingredients. _And it's not too damn fucking complicated."_

The white half of Zetsu's face smiled at me.

"Right. I'll uh, I'll bear that in mind thank you."

Zetsu lurched back into the kitchen with little grace.

Itachi polished the very clean glass.

"You'll do fine." Pein's words would have been more reassuring if a very demeaning head pat hadn't followed.

The rest of the shift went smoothly. Itachi had a keen sense of situational awareness, that somehow allowed him to know exactly when I needed his help, and when he could leave me to figure it out.

At six, Tobi and Kisame slipped in the employee entrance. I briefly contemplated how the building was still standing if those two were the night bartenders.

After splitting the tips evenly, despite my protests, Itachi herded me upstairs. Entering the common area I became aware of the biggest downfall of being a bartender. I smelled. Like fifteen different types of alcohol and grease.

Seeing the dismay and disgust ripple across my face Itachi sighed.

"Go shower, lock both doors this time. I'll see what's for dinner."

"Bless you Tachi." I ran up the stairs to the sound of an annoyed snort.

An uninterrupted shower was bliss. The box of posters sitting on my bed was not. Apparently Deidara had taken a deeper offense to my blank walls than I anticipated. The box was full of sketches of tattoo designs, Akatsuki members in various actions, and a perfectly folded paper rose.

Ignoring the warm fuzzy feelings erupting in my chest I changed into a pair of black sweatpants, and a clean blue tank top.

Setting the box of art carefully on the floor I curled up on top of my bed. So much had happened in just a few days, but I was no stranger to that. The strange part was that this was the first time it had happened for the better.

Ignoring the way my mood dipped slightly at the depressing past I jumped off the bed and headed back downstairs.

Sasori, Deidara, and Konan were huddled in the living room bickering quietly about different tattoo's and clients.

Itachi had his back to me rummaging through the fridge. I took a step into the kitchen when two arms wrapped around my middle and lifted me easily.

The resulting "meep" that escaped had my captor chuckling. The deep tone and lack of hair everywhere narrowed my attacker down to Sasori.

I found myself sat down in the living room once again sandwiched between Sasori and Deidara. Konan offered a slight eye smile.

Apparently a very picky client had gone into the shop today. She wanted an intricate leg tattoo of differently flowers twisting around her leg, from ankle to hip. Not only flowers, small birds and butterflies, even a few hidden words. The client's refusal to sit long enough to have stenciling done on her own leg led to my left leg being stolen by three peeved tattoo artists.

The markers tickled slightly and the smell of food wafting from the kitchen was remarkably relaxing.

 **See. Not so bad after all. Play this out.**

 **A/N: Ah. So I'm back. This chapter has no point except being a chapter and setting up some character interaction. More to follow.**


End file.
